


Other Options

by LMX



Series: Waltz AU [1]
Category: Leverage
Genre: AU, F/M, Multi, Role Reversal, backup from lj
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 09:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5781265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMX/pseuds/LMX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliot Spencer is an insurance agent who is trying to track down a pair of elusive con artists</p>
            </blockquote>





	Other Options

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sheryden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheryden/gifts).



Eliot was of a mind to turn this one in, hand it off to another agent and go home and sleep it off. He wouldn't, primarily because he knew that bastard had used his good name to get in with the client, walking right on in there and claiming to be from IYS.

It wasn't like Eliot did house visits often - he wasn't from that part of the company, and he wasn't exactly someone they let make nice with the customers. They didn't make any bones about the fact that they hired him to break faces and bring things stolen home. He wasn't even a glorified bounty hunter, he was just one with a regular income, no reputation and no pride in his work. It made him feel a little like the lowest of the low, but it was a paycheque, his name on tax records and child support back to his nephew in the name of the deadbeat father that no one missed.

But then he came across cases like this, and realised he did have a good name, one people trusted, one that was on the company website, one that would let him walk right up to any piece of insured merchandise the client owned and with some careful grifting, walk away with it with no one the wiser. He almost admired what they'd done.

And it wasn't like he didn't know exactly who it was. Ford and Devereaux. He'd call them his nemeses if he didn't care for them so much. Even after that year. The year they'd spent wooing him, pandering to him, conning him even as they convinced him that, for the first time in his life, he was worth something to someone.

Still, even if he could forgive them for that con, he was never going to forgive them for walking away from him with all their gleaned knowledge and slowly ripping his career out from underneath him. He hated his job, but it was all he was good for. The thought of going back into the Army had him come out in a cold sweat, no matter how long it had been. If he lost his job at IYS, though...

So far, no one had noticed that it had been his easy tongue that had lead to all the recent major pieces being targeted with expert ease, but if they started using Eliot's name to pull off their cons, it was only a matter of time.

It was chance and nothing more that had him turning a corner and coming face to face with Ford himself.

Eliot growled as he slammed Nate into the wall, pinning him there with a hand against his throat. "Ford," he snarled. He stilled as the business end of a gun came to rest against the base of his skull. With a breath's pause he slid out of the way of the gun and slammed his elbow into Sophie's arms, knocking the piece loose and catching it neatly. He ejected the magazine one handed and took his hand off Nate for long enough to empty the chamber before slamming Nate back into the wall and grabbing Sophie's wrist to bring her round in front of him before she tried anything else.

He took a breath, watched the two of them share a glance. "Are you done?" he demanded.

"Not yet," Nate snarked, some sharp edge to his voice. "But I'd appreciate having this discussion without any further head injuries?"

"You've been... The two of you..." Eliot fought to find the words to express his exasperation. "You've taken everything from me. Tell me why."

"We haven't taken anything you didn't want to lose," Sophie replied blandly. "We've been waiting for you. We thought this might go a little easier if you'd had time to think about this yourself, before we offered you..."

"I don't want anything you could offer me." Eliot snapped.

"They treat you like their animal to fetch and guard and kill," Nate said blandly, keeping still under Eliot's hand. "You can't live like that forever."

Eliot recognised his own words quoted back at him, and scowled. "IYS are all I've got. All I'm good at. If you do this to me, ruin me like this..."

Sophie smiled, as if he'd said something she approved of. "You'd have to join us." She put her free hand on his arm, where he was holding Nate. "We want you with us, Eliot. We know that, if you think about it, you'll realise that's what you want too."

Eliot laughed hoarsely, stepping away and releasing Nate. "You've been doing all this... so that I'd...? Give up my life and my career for... what? A life of crime? That's supposed to sound appealing? After what you did!?"

"We've been doing all of this for a reason." Nate pointed out. "We know you shouldn't be there, same as you know you shouldn't be there. We're just giving you another option."

Eliot shook his head. "No, you're taking away all my other options." He glanced up, spotted the camera watching in the corner. They were close enough to the museum that the Police would almost definitely look over the footage. Had he been aggressive enough that IYS would read this situation right? He could fix everything right here, turn in both of them and clear his name for good.

When he looked back to Sophie, his stomach dropped at the thought. They'd hurt him. But for a brief time they'd been his whole life. The only thing worth coming home to. He'd never felt so alive in his life. Like he was living for something other than making enough money to keep his sister afloat. Like he was living for himself.

"When we first met you," Sophie said, voice soft and affectionate. "We were just there for the con. To get as much background as we could off you. We would never have made any of this link back to you, Eliot. We're too good for that. But the longer we spent with you... You're not made for that life, Eliot. We had to set you free."

"It's all I have," Eliot repeated, hating the apologetic waver in his voice. "I need it."

"I promise you, you don't." Nate grinned, a secretive grin, a grin that meant trouble and sent shivers down Eliot's spine. "You have no idea what life is out there for someone with your skills."

Eliot shook his head again, feeling like he'd been saying 'no' all night, when really all he wanted was to say 'yes'. "My skills ain't good for anything but busting heads and tracking what's gone missing."

Sophie and Nate exchanged a quiet smile, more real. "That's simply not true," Nate whispered.

Eliot breathed slowly out through his nose. He turned to Sophie. "Are you carrying a second gun?" It was a defunct question, he knew she was - he could see the odd hang of the side of her coat.

"What?" she asked, as if startled.

"There's a camera over my left shoulder." Eliot watched as Nate glanced down the alleyway, never looking directly at the camera. Sophie didn't look, took her cue from Nate. They worked so beautifully together. He could respect that. "If you want this to happen... Nate's going to struggle, I'm going to give him my full attention..." Eliot took a deep breath and let Sophie meet his eyes again. "You're gonna shoot me. Then you can drag me out of here, patch me up. We'll worry about the rest later. If you're conning me again... Shoot to kill, Sophie. I can't do this again."

"Everything's going to be just fine," she smiled softly, and as Nate lunged to the left there was a sharp crack.


End file.
